The Surface air temperature published a few days ago shows that January 2018 was warmer than the 1981-2010 average over almost all of Europe.

At global scale, the temperature for January 2018 was also well above average. Although not as exceptional as the values for January 2016 and January 2017, it was in line with the upward trend of 0.18°C per decade seen in global temperature data from 1979 onwards.

However, as illustrated by the figure below, there were disparities depending on the geographical area. For instance, western USA, Tibet or eastern Australia were also warmer than the 1981-2010 average while southern USA, southern Russia or central Asia were colder than average.

Surface air temperature anomaly for January 2018 relative to the January average for the period 1981-2010. Source: ERA-Interim. (Credit: ECMWF Copernicus Climate Change Service)